Gareth Bale hit back at "malicious" criticism from Spanish media on Friday, saying an article in Madrid-based paper Marca was a "piece of slanderous, derogatory and speculative journalism."

Marca called the Welsh captain a "parasite" and accused him of faking a back injury that kept him out of Real Madrid's humiliating loss to Barcelona at the weekend, four days before he scored both goals in Wales's win over Austria in their World Cup playoff game.

Gareth Bale's 2021-22 Real Madrid season was summed up by last Sunday's Clásico, when rumors of a surprise start in replace of the injured Karim Benzema led to nothing more than the Welshman missing out on the matchday squad entirely.

Bale's played a total of just 270 minutes in five appearances across all competitions, including only 77 minutes this calendar year, and his only goal of the campaign came way back in August.

But as we all know, Bale's an entirely different animal when representing his national team: Wales. Golf. Madrid. In that order.

AMSTERDAM — Wales captain Gareth Bale cut short a post-match interview when asked about his future in international football after his country's crushing 4-0 loss to Denmark in the last 16 of the European Championship on Saturday.

Manager Robert Page later labelled the question insensitive and said 31-year-old Bale had done the right thing to walk away from the pitchside interview.

Kasper Dolberg marcó un doblete ante Gales y cada vez que celebró su pelo se suspendió en el aire, en una forma que recuerda el mito griego de Medusa y sus serpientes, las que convertían en piedra a todos quienes la miraran.

La imagen, además, tiene un vínculo con lo que pasó en el campo. Dinamarca arrolló a una selección galesa que parecía tener estatuas de piedra en su defensa. 

There’s no doubt about it, Denmark is the fan favorite at Euro 2020. After Christian Eriksen’s terrifying cardiac arrest in the Danes’ first group-stage match, the soccer world has rallied around Denmark. Now there’s something special happening with the Danish team, which against all odds has reached the quarterfinals after a 4-0 win over Wales on Saturday. 

Denmark is fighting for something bigger than tournament success and has the strength of an entire nation behind the team. Denmark will look to do Christian Eriksen, who suffered a cardiac arrest in Denmark's opening game, proud in the Round of 16, while Wales will look to recreate the magic of 2016 when the team made a remarkable run to the semifinal. The opening Round of 16 game of Euro 2020 kicks off this weekend.